Hurricane Irma damage: What to do during, after a power outage

— ﻿When severe weather knocks out electric power to a home it can be more than just inconvenient.Hurricane Irma moved through the Southeast last weekend leaving millions in the dark. As of Tuesday morning, more than 7 million people in five states have lost their electric power.What do you do if you find yourself without electricity? What are the dangers? Here are a few tips from Ready.gov.During a Power Outage: Only use flashlights for emergency lighting, candles can cause fires.

Keep refrigerator and freezer doors closed. Most food requiring refrigeration can be kept safely in a closed refrigerator for several hours. An unopened refrigerator will keep food cold for about 4 hours. A full freezer will keep the temperature for about 48 hours. If food is in the refrigerator or freezer more than that, throw it out. Do not take chances with spoiled food.

Take steps to remain cool. Consider going to a movie theater, shopping mall or “cooling shelter” that may be open in your community. If you remain at home, move to the lowest level of your home, since cool air falls. Wear lightweight, light-colored clothing. Drink plenty of water, even if you do not feel thirsty.

Turn off or disconnect appliances and other equipment in case of a momentary power “surge” that can damage computers and other devices. Consider adding surge protectors.

"We hypothesized that long-term yogurt intake might reduce the risk of cardiovascular problems since some previous small studies had shown beneficial effects of fermented dairy products," the authors wrote in a statement.For the assessment, they pulled from a study that examined 55,000 women, aged 30-55, with high blood pressure, and they looked at another that analyzed 18,000 men, aged 40-75. The participants, which were followed for up to 30 years, completed a questionnaire that asked about their diets and any physician-diagnosed events, like strokes or heart attacks, that might have occurred.

After analyzing the results, they found that higher intakes of yogurt were associated with a 30 percent reduction in risk of cardiac arrest for women and a 19 percent decrease for men.

Furthermore, men and women, who ate more than two servings of yogurt a week had about a 20 percent lower risk of major coronary heart disease or stroke.

“Our results provide important new evidence that yogurt may benefit heart health alone or as a consistent part of a diet rich in fiber-rich fruits, vegetables and whole grains," they said.

While they didn’t note whether one type of yogurt was better than the other or why it could be beneficial, they said the treat may help prevent clogging of the heart’s blood vessels.

"We continue to recommend parents get their children vaccinated even though it's late in the season," Dr. Anne Schuchat told CNN.

Health officials on Friday said about one in every 13 visits to the doctor last week was for fever, cough and other symptoms of the flu. The flu is currently widespread across 47 states except for Oregon, which is reporting local flu activity.

In Massachusetts, there was a slight increase in flu-like illness this past week.Medical professionals continue to encourage people to get the flu vaccine, even though researchers have found it to be 25 to 30 percent effective. To find a flu shot near you visit vaccinefinder.org.

Jennifer Lawrence to take time off from acting in order to ‘fix our democracy’

TORONTO, ON - SEPTEMBER 10: Jennifer Lawrence at the 'mother!' press conference during the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival held at TIFF Bell Lightbox on September 10, 2017 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for Paramount Pictures)(Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for Paramount Pictures)

Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for Paramount Pictures

— Jennifer Lawrence plans to take the next year off from acting in order to devote time working with a group trying to limit the influence of money in politics.

Lawrence, 27, is a member of the board of Represent.Us, a group working to pass anti-corruption laws which limit the amount of money that can be used to influence politicians.

"I'm going to take the next year off. I'm going to be working with this organization as a part of Represent.Us ... Trying to get young people engaged politically on a local level,” Lawrence told Entertainment Tonight while promoting the release of her latest movie Red Sparrow. “It doesn't have anything to do with partisan (politics). It's just anti-corruption and stuff trying to pass state by state laws that can help prevent corruption, fix our democracy."

Emily Rhoades Randolph said she purchased a package of fresh cod on Feb. 9 at Costco. On Monday, she recorded video of what appears to be a worm wriggling around a corner of the sealed package and posted it on her Facebook page on Wednesday. The sell-by date on the package is the same day she recorded the video, according to Randolph.

Randolph said in the Facebook post that when she returned the contaminated fish to Costco, the clerk at the seafood counter commented that another customer had returned salmon with worms in it. Randolph said she did not receive an apology for the incident.